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Marvel Is Giving Out The Watcher’s Eyeballs To Promote ‘Original Sin,’ Still Less Creepy Than That Beer Valiant Made In The ’90s

Marvel Comics

Promotional items always add a little something extra to the experience when you head over to the comic book store on Wednesdays. They’re just fun, whether it’s as simple as a bookmark or something on the level of those Green Lantern rings that DC gave out a few years ago. Or, you know, the Watcher’s eyeball, ripped out of his head and missing since his bloody murder. That’s pretty fun, too.

And that’s exactly what Marvel’s giving out to promote May’s Original Sin event by Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato Jr., in the form of rubber high-bouncing balls designed to look like the eyes of Uatu — Eyes that have seen so many crucial moments of the Marvel Universe before winding up in the hands of Senior Vice President Tom Brevoort, as seen above.

Marvel Comics

As far as in-store promo items go, the Watcher’s eyeballs are pretty awesome in a morbidly fun way. I’m particularly excited about the fact that retailers are going to be finding these behind their bookshelves until the end of time, but even beyond that, it’s nice to get something tangible to play with in order to get you excited for an upcoming story.

Even so, disembodied eyes aren’t the weirdest promotional item I’ve ever seen. That slightly dubious honor still belongs to 1994′s Darque Brew, a bottle of beer Valiant sent to retailers along with information on upcoming titles. Oddly enough, 20-year-old beer has now become a highly sought-after collector’s item for a certain kind of fan, with bottles going for upwards of a hundred bucks on eBay. One assumes that the bouncy balls ripped from Uatu’s corpse will probably not get that level of notoriety, but still, they’re pretty rad.

One can only guess what secrets the Watcher’s eyes may reveal, but we’ve already got one just in these few photographs:

Marvel Comics

Who would have ever guessed that Marvel’s editorial staff preferred the UniBall pen to the superior (and retractable!) UniBall Signo? It’s objectively the best office supply pen on the market! What sinister reason could the House of Ideas have for using an inferior pen? We’ll have to find out in May, but rest assured that ComicsAlliance will stay on top ofkeep its eyes peeled for more on this story.

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